TMA, no DEMON, no LOS switch

[Dr.Sid]

You can also change speed. That works same way. Doing very slow turns, like moving on circles, never straight is also good method for 1) improving your solution 2) worsening his solution, as all solutions expect the target to be moving straight. Leg can be spotted .. but slow gradual change in bearing rate can really puzzle the other guy.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by Dr.Sid

You can also change speed. That works same way. Doing very slow turns, like moving on circles, never straight is also good method for 1) improving your solution 2) worsening his solution, as all solutions expect the target to be moving straight. Leg can be spotted .. but slow gradual change in bearing rate can really puzzle the other guy.

Yeah but if the other guy already has a good solution on you, changeing slowly your speed will not degrade his solution rapidly enough to make it useless.

Really the point is that you're not going to to spend 40 minutes doing a tma. At most 10 minutes are necessary to get a good enough solution using the different methods we already talked about, solution that can then be refined all the while you send the torpedo on the target.
There has to be a moment when you say enough is enough, I've got the data for an attack. Otherwise you'll never have the intiative and without it you'll lose each and every time against a well skilled player.

Edit : also remember that taking evasive action and launching countermeasures right and left is akin to telling the enemy I'm RIGHT HERE. No tma is needed since the cm are static, they don't move so at most 2 bearing lines are necessary to triangulate their position and therefore YOUR position as well. Just something to keep in mind if you're a fan of the seawolf with its industrial grade capacity of cm.

[NFunky]

How do you guys balance making turns and such with stabilizing the TA? This has been by far my biggest issue in sub combat. I almost always retract my TA to about 1/3rd-1/2 and I still often get two bad bearing lines between turns. One line I could deal with, but two, especially when one of them is often only slightly distorted, really slows down my TMA. I find it a hell of a lot easier to do TMA on the Kilo simply because I never have to deal with TA stabilization.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by NFunky

How do you guys balance making turns and such with stabilizing the TA? This has been by far my biggest issue in sub combat. I almost always retract my TA to about 1/3rd-1/2 and I still often get two bad bearing lines between turns. One line I could deal with, but two, especially when one of them is often only slightly distorted, really slows down my TMA. I find it a hell of a lot easier to do TMA on the Kilo simply because I never have to deal with TA stabilization.

Oh c'mon if you're using the sphere or hull array on the kilo what forbids you from using the sphere and hull arrays on the seawolf (together with the WAA) or the sphere array on the 688i ? In other terms your problem is really a non issue.

I already advised you to read the red book which is hosted on CADC website, lots of tactics are explained and most importantly you'll learn how to refine the tma without starting from zero every time your contact changes speed or course.

Look if you are tracking a sub only with the TA (and no other sensor) you'll need in the best case 3 or 4 bearing lines. Before starting tma look at your sonar and put yourself on a lag course (I told you about the track going left/right with respect to your course) and then wait 6 minutes for 2 bearing lines. That together with the bearing should give you a ROUGH idea what your enemy is doing. If he changes course/speed use the method described in the red book. If not just keep on waiting other bearing lines.

Another thing to keep in mind, you do not have to change course to start a new leg, you can increase or decrease speed. For instance the seawolf has a tactical speed of 15 knots if I'm not mistaken. That means you can start a leg at 7 knots (minimum speed to keep the TA in line with the sub) and then start the second leg at 12-15 knots. You'll get enough difference to nail down a probable good tma.
If you want to change course, wait for the new bearing line to arrive and then change course. Time it every 2 minutes (or multiple of 2 minutes), so you can change course every 4,6,8 minutes right after the new bearing line has been sent to the tma station.